Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award,
Jessy Grizzle

A specialist in the area of system science and control, Jessy Grizzle,
professor of electrical engineering and computer science, combines a deep
knowledge of control theory with an ability to develop practical
applications in several areas. A case in point is his contribution to
bipedal locomotion, an achievement that is considered to be a major turning
point in robotics. This advance could be achieved only through a deep
theoretical insight combined with practical ingenuity. After establishing a
solid reputation through his theoretical work, Grizzle demonstrated that he
could quickly grasp real engineering problems and solve them creatively in
collaboration with engineers at Ford Motor Company.

Grizzle has contributed to four areas in the general field of system
science and control: nonlinear control theory, control of semiconductor
manufacturing equipment, powertrain control in automotive systems and
control of bipedal locomotion. The first is theoretical; the second and
third are practical; and the last, which is closely related to the first
three, combines theoretical and practical components. His work in each of
these areas is of the highest possible quality, and his research was cited
as one of Scientific American magazine's top achievements of 2006.

Grizzle's success in creating a stable walking gait in bipedal robots won
the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Axelby Award and led
to recognition by Scientific American, the Economist, EuroNews and Wired
magazine, as well as CNN, Fox News and Discovery Channel. For his
accomplishments, he has attained a reputation as the world's leading
researcher in control systems.

Grizzle has been a leader in making U-M one of the top universities for
graduate study in control theory and control applications. During the last
10 years, he graduated 14 doctoral students. He also has taught a wide
variety of undergraduate courses and in 2004 the CoE students elected him
the Tau Beta Pi Engineering Professor of the Year.

At the departmental level, Grizzle helped coordinate research and
educational activities in at least five engineering departments and the
Department of Mathematics. At the national level, he served as associate
editor of major journals and on organizing committees of major conferences.
At present he is an associate editor at large for the main journal in the
field of Control Systems.